President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africa does not suffer from a shortage of infrastructure proposals, but that the country’s constraint is that too many of those projects are not adequately prepared. He was addressing the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium 2026 (Sidssa26) in Cape Town on Tuesday. His remarks come ahead of what is expected to be a bruising local government election for his party, the ANC, in November.While the ANC has presided over great socioeconomic and governance decline for more than a decade, its management of the country’s more than 200 municipalities has arguably been the party’s worst failure, with stagnation and neglect of infrastructure proving to be especially detrimental and costly. Ramaphosa said that, despite the presence of Infrastructure South Africa’s (ISA) R600m project preparation facility, systemic weaknesses at the local government level also affected project preparedness.“This kind of support is particularly important as we shift our focus towards municipal infrastructure delivery. Municipal infrastructure is not only where the effectiveness of the state is most directly tested. It is the foundation of inclusive economic growth.“Businesses cannot function without reliable municipal infrastructure. Children cannot be schooled. Workers cannot get to work. Communities cannot be developed. That is why we have to address municipal infrastructure differently. Providing another grant without addressing the underlying capability of the institution is not sufficient.” There is an important difference between a project that is needed and a project that is ready. Through ISA’s R600m project preparation facility, 26 projects have received and are receiving project development support— President Cyril RamaphosaHe said the government has strengthened co-ordination through the Infrastructure Development Act and the work of ISA in preparing and advancing the country’s strategic infrastructure pipeline.“The estimated capital value of the portfolio of our strategic integrated projects has grown from approximately R340bn in 2020 to more than R1.67-trillion today. There are 195 public and private-led infrastructure projects across priority sectors in the current portfolio. “Over the last several years, 32 projects with an estimated value of approximately R48bn have been completed. At present, 55 projects with an estimated value of more than R407bn are in construction. This tells us that the pipeline is becoming more mature,” Ramaphosa said.Sidssa26 released the third edition of the Construction Book, which showcases projects worth more than R350bn, spanning sectors from water and sanitation, and transport and logistics, to energy and electricity, and municipal infrastructure. “The Construction Book provides the market with a clear view of funded and investment-ready infrastructure projects that are expected to enter procurement over the next 12-18 months. This edition contains over 170 projects with an estimated value of R264bn,” Ramaphosa said.“There is an important difference between a project that is needed and a project that is ready. Through ISA’s R600m project preparation facility, 26 projects have received and are receiving project development support.”He said ISA spent R1.8m to prepare and package a project for the Matjhabeng local municipality to replace more than 1,700km of water pipes, which helped to unlock R800m in debt financing from the Development Bank of Southern Africa.TimesLIVE